PBC School Board to vote on whether to approve Race to the Top Grant application

The Palm Beach County School Board will vote this evening on whether to let the school district move forward with an application for a Race to the Top grant worth up to $40 million.

Board members heard a workshop about the grant last week. If the grant application goes forward — the application is due Oct. 30 — the district would be vying against hundreds of other school districts for a share of the money.

Unclear yet is what teachers and the county’s teachers union think of the grant proposal. District staff say they have been working with Debra Wilhelm, the president of the Classroom Teachers Association, on figuring out what to put in the grant. The district says there was even a focus group of teachers created so the district could get input on what teachers need or care about. And Wilhelm and Lynn Cavall, CTA’s executive director, sat at the table during the grant application workshop.

But after last week’s board workshop, Wilhelm declined to offer much comment on the proposal, saying she’s waiting to see what teachers think of the proposed application.

“I want to be able to present our teachers with all the information,” Wilhelm said at the time. It’s unclear whether she’s gotten that feedback.

The district needs the teachers union to sign off on the grant application.

Also on this evening’s school board agenda are 14 charter school applications; district staff are recommending approval of six of the 14.